Fire in MLA hostel, suburban college in Chennai

A minor fire broke out in the MLAs hostel in Chennai, but was put out immediately by alert staff. The fire, caused by an electrical short circuit, occurred in the ground floor of the G Block of the hostel. Staff of the hostel immediately swung into action, cut off the power supply and put out the fire with the help of fire extinguishers, police said.

A minor fire broke out in the MLAs hostel in Chennai on Tuesday, but was put out immediately by alert staff.

The fire, caused by an electrical short circuit, occurred in the ground floor of the G Block of the hostel. Staff of the hostel immediately swung into action, cut off the power supply and put out the fire with the help of fire extinguishers, police said.

Most of the MLAs were present in the assembly for the budget session when the fire broke out.

In another fire mishap, over 100 computers and peripherals worth lakhs of rupees were gutted in a private college in the city suburb. However, there were no casualties, police said.

The fire broke out around 5 am in the computer lab of the college. Three fire tenders battled for more than an hour before dousing the flames.

A total of 130 computer and air-conditioning systems were destroyed, they said, adding that the cause of the fire was not yet known.